The Narufox
by Sakura aka L-sama no Miko
Summary: My take on Dr. Seuss' The Lorax.


The Narufox – An Earth Day Parable

By Sakura (aka L-sama no Miko)

Yep, you guessed it folks, this is going to be a Lorax inspired fic. Blame Universal for making the Once-ler such a cutie otherwise I'd never be giving into greedy Oncie's demands. Not to mention those of a certain orange furry jelly bean.

Greed-ler: Good girl, Sakura.

Lorax: I didn't care what you did with this thing, as long as you got it out in time for Earth Day.

Anything for you, Oncie. And chill out moustache, I finished this schloppity schlopp with time to spare. Anyhoo, as I was saying, this is going to be my take on Doc Seuss' Lorax. However, since I've yet to see the movie – I know, I know what the heck was I waiting for – I'm going have to rely on what little I remember from the old short cartoon version and what other fans wrote about the movie, so please go easy on me. Also, as a treat, I'm going to list some listening music to go along with this thing:

Opening Song: Let It Grow (Celebrate the World) – Lorax Soundtrack

The Salikawood – Final Fantasy XII Soundtrack

A Piece of Peace – Kingdom Hearts Soundtrack

How Bad Can I Be? – Lorax Soundtrack (gotta love that song)

Cernunnos – Faith and the Muse

The Winner Takes it All – Abba

The Darkest Star – Depeche Mode

Ending/Epilogue Song: Strangers – Wolf's Rain Soundtrack

Gaara looked at the wasteland as it stretched out before him. He'd heard the rumors, saw the pictures in the propaganda they called textbooks, but to actually see the barren land dotted with rotting tree stumps and purplish black sky from beyond the city's protective dome was quite staggering. _'How could _**anything** _survive out here?' _the redhead wondered. He started to turn back, then remembered why he'd snuck past the dome in the first place.

Ever since he was little, Gaara had been brought up on stories of the mythical forest of Konoha by his great grandmother, Chiyo. The old woman would go on and on about the majestic beauty of the sweet smelling trees one moment, then rant about how the people of the land were stupid to have let them all be destroyed in the next. However, she never did how the trees were destroyed or why. Each and every time Gaara'd start to ask, his father would interrupt and demand he'd stop wasting time on fairy stories and spend more time on his studies.

Earlier that day, Gaara managed to get out of going to school successfully by playing at being sick and was thus left alone with the eccentric old woman. "Granny Chiyo," he asked, "what exactly happened to the trees? Why did the people cut them all down?"

"You really wanna know?" she chortled, choosing to ignore her great grandson's 'miraculous recovery', "You'd best ask the Uchiha for that tale, boy," she said in a more solemn tone, "it's not mine to tell."

"The Uchiha?" Gaara parroted, "But that's an old wives' tale to get us kids to behave," he scoffed, remembering the tales of the monstrous Uchiha his uncle Yashamaru would tell him whenever he misbehaved, which was quite often.

"Ho, ho, ho," Chiyo laughed, her mood brightening once more, "Is it? Listen up Gaara, my boy, 'cause I'm only gonna say this once. Outside this fishbowl of a town, where nothing but grickly grass grows, high on the hill of the Narufox, there's where the first Uchiha factory stands. That's where you'll find your answers, kid."

Gaara had been ready to dismiss the old woman's words as senile rubbish but, yet, here he was – standing on the blackened, useless soil and beyond the protection of the dome that kept in the fresh air and artificial sunlight generated by huge machines. The redhead sighed and began walking towards the only visible hill, careful not to brush against any of the prickly, grickly grass as he passed by and marginally noticing that the air quality wasn't as bad as he was told to be.

It was early afternoon by the time he reached the summit of the hill of the Narufox – whatever the heck that was. Icy teal eyes widened in surprise and disappointment at the run down house. _'This is what she calls a factory?'_ he thought in slight anger. _'You're losing it, Granny.'_

Since he'd come all this way, Gaara continued to think, he should at least have a look around. After circling the crumbling building, the redhead came upon a small ring of stones below a high boarded up window. Inside the ring was a tiny patch of bright green grass. He bent down and touched the emerald substance and drew his hand back in shock. It wasn't the hard scratchy plastic stuff they called grass back at the city. This grass was soft to the touch and it felt, there was only one word to describe it, alive!

Gaara could not believe his eyes. Here was actual, real, **living** grass! The boy continued to stare at the green blades nestled within the stones in awe; marveling at the sensation of running his fingers through those soft blades. A few minutes later, he stood to leave when something carved into the stones caught his eye.

"Unless," he read out loud, "Unless what?"

"What are you doing here?" demanded a raspy voice from above.

Gaara let out a rather undignified squeak before spinning around to look up at the blocked off window. At first he thought he'd imagined things, but after closer inspection, he could barely make out a shadowy figure between the planks of wood blocking his view.

"I asked you a question boy. Surely they teach you manners over at the city or have they forgotten how?"

Gaara had to strain to hear that voice. It sounded as if whoever or whatever in that run-down shack hadn't spoken in ages. "Uchiha?"

He wasn't sure, but it looked like the figure had startled at the mention of that name. "And if I am boy? That still doesn't explain what you are doing on **my** land."

The figure hadn't exactly answered his question, but it was obvious he wasn't denying anything either. The redhead steeled himself and fixed his aquamarine orbs on the high window, silently daring the 'thing' inside to come out and gobble him up. He smiled slightly as a pair of equally daring onyx eyes flashed in the muted light. Made bolder by those eyes, Gaara spoke his request. "Tell me about the trees, why are they all gone?"

Onyx eyes widened in astonishment; in all his years living in his self imposed hell never had **anyone** come to him to ask him why. "Why? You really want to know why there are no more trees?" The boy nodded. There was a sound like a type of snort. "Go home boy. Forget what you've seen and leave an old fool of a man in peace."

"Not until you tell me about the trees," countered Gaara as he continued to challenge the man inside.

There was a sigh from the window a few minutes later. "Fine have it your way, kid. I should warn you it's not a happy little fairy tale, my story."

"It's pretty obvious," the boy shot back.

The man inside gave a mirthless chuckle. "I like you kid. You're gutsy. I'll give you that. It all started years and years ago when your great-grandpa and grandma were still in diapers…"

Itachi Uchiha had finally managed to give his father's henchman – more like goons, if you ask him – the slip and stopped by one of the multicolored, tufted trees; grateful for the chance to rest. He smiled as he looked around the forest he'd stumbled upon and sat down in the tree's shade. It was truly a lovely sight; the bright colors of the trees working wonders for his previously gloomy mood. Before he knew it, the weary man had drifted off, lulled to sleep by the gentle breezes that blew through the forested valley.

The raven haired teen woke hours later, refreshed and ready to continue on his journey to freedom. Then it hit him, this was the perfect place to live. If his father's paid hounds hadn't found him by then, they never would. There'd be no fathers pressuring him to succeed and follow him in the family business, no little brothers – no matter how cute – pestering him to play with him or help him with homework. Itachi was free to do as he pleased. Spotting a nearby hill he nodded to himself and began climbing.

The view from the hill was spectacular! A sea of pinks, reds, yellows, blues and oranges, spread out for as far as Itachi's eyes could see. It made him smile; remembering the first few pieces of 'art' his baby brother Sasuke had brought home from kindergarten while being covered in bits of multicolored glitter, paper and paint himself. How Sasuke managed to get more of that stuff on him than the paper, he'd never know.

Shaking his head after giving a low chuckle, the raven haired teen turned to look at the few trees on the hill. He ran his hands over the striped trunk and branches, feeling the texture of the bark and testing the strength of the wood. Nodding to himself, the trees here would make a good sturdy home.

Reaching into one of his packs, he pulled out a small hand axe. It wasn't the best tool for chopping down trees, but it would have to do. An hour later, he gave the axe one last swing and the tree fell with a whoosh and a thud. He sighed as he wiped the sweat off his brow with his rolled up shirt.

"Hey what do ya think you're doing?" called an irate voice.

The raven haired teen whirled around, nearly dropping the axe on his feet in surprise. Standing by the fallen tree was – well he wasn't sure what it was exactly – a blond human looking figure with what appeared to be fox ears and nine tails of the brightest orange fur he'd ever seen. One of the tails was strategically placed to hide certain 'naughty bits'. Three whisker marks graced each tanned cheek adding to the fox like appearance. "I must have overworked myself," he muttered to himself, blushing profusely "now I'm seeing things."

"Hey buddy! I asked ya a question! Don't go ignoring me!" the fox thing demanded, getting up close and in his face.

"What… what are you?" Itachi asked, now sure that he wasn't hallucinating thanks to the blond currently poking him in the chest, "And will you stop that?"

"I'm the Narufox," he replied, "ya can call me Naruto, and I speak for the trees around here, believe it! So I'm askin' ya again, just what the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Naru… fox?" the taller teen asked in confusion. He'd never heard of such a creature before.

"You gonna answer me or not?" the blond fox boy pressured again, "Hey anyone in there?" he asked waving a clawed hand in front of the taller one's face.

"Oh sorry. What was the question again?"

Naruto sighed in exasperation. "I said, I wanna know what you think you're doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Itachi quipped surly, annoyed that his work was interrupted by such an annoying, yet delicious looking, figment.

"It looks like to me you're hurting the trees," spat the blond fox boy. "They can feel pain too ya know! So just what the heck are you doing choppin' 'em down like that ya murderer!"

"Great," Itachi muttered, "just great, not only do I get a very realistic hallucination, I get one that's a tree hugging hippie." Sighing yet again, he looked the blond in the eyes. It took all his strength not to pounce on him there and then once onyx met brilliant, ocean blue – those were the most beautiful eyes he'd ever seen, a remarkable contradiction of naivety and ancient wisdom. "Look Narufox… Naruto… or whatever you are. I need shelter if I'm going to stay here. These trees will make a good house."

"Get stuffed pal! There's no why I'm gonna let ya stay here! You're nothing but bad news for this place! I can tell, believe it!"

"And what can you do, little fox?" Itachi smirked dangerously. "You're the only one I've seen here and you don't look all that tough. Run along now and let me get back to work."

"Tch!" spat Naruto. "Don't say I didn't warn ya, teme!" he added mischievously as he spun around on his heel and heading down the hill.

Itachi couldn't help but chuckle at the retreating fox boy. He had to admit, he was rather amusing as well as rather easy on the eyes. "Do your worst little fox," he called after the blond had disappeared from sight. "Like it or not, you're going to be stuck with me."

Later that night, the blond fox boy had snuck into the raven haired teen's tent a few small teddy bear like creatures following him. "Tch!" grumbled Naruto, "If he already had shelter, then why the heck did he cut down those trees? I just don't get humans, believe it!"

One of the bear critters crept closer to the slumbering teen and began poking at him curiously. "Hey! Don't wake him up!" hissed the blond fox boy, quickly grabbing the youngling away. He gestured to the other bear things and they began to help lift the cot up off the tent floor and carry it out of the strange cave thing made of cloth.

They trudged along carrying their heavy burden down the hill and toward the bank of a nearby river – where Itachi had bathed before going to bed. Upon the river, they carefully laid the cot mattress with the still unconscious Itachi on it in the water.

"Heh," snickered Naruto, "See ya buddy!" he called as the mattress started to float down stream, the sleeping human never knowing he was no longer in his tent. "That'll teach 'im not to cut down **my** trees!"

Too say that Itachi was pissed would be a great understatement. He was not only rudely awakened by being dumped into the river when the mattress finally sank after soaking up so much water, but quite a while from his tent and dry clothes.

Once he'd gotten back to the hill and dried off, he took his anger out on a few more of the trees. He had a house to build after all. "Still at it, huh?" came the fox boy's voice, grave disappointment coloring it.

Onyx eyes narrowed in fury and the raven haired teen spun around, throwing a hunting knife at the blond. Naruto dodged the blade, causing it to clash into the tree he'd been leaning against and burying itself several inches deep into the trunk.

"Hey! That's no way to treat a defenseless tree!" the fox boy shouted indignantly, "What did it ever do to you?"

"I was aiming for _**you**_," snarled Itachi.

"What'd I ever do to you?"

"You damn well know you stupid fox! Who else could have dumped my bed into the river last night?"

"Yeah, well ya deserved it, believe it! I told ya I don't want you here! If you already had shelter then why the hell are you _**still**_ chopping up my trees?"

"_**Your**_ trees?" snapped the irate Uchiha, "I don't see _**your **_name on them anywhere."

"Oh, and I suppose they have _**your**_ name on 'em then?" retorted Naruto.

Itachi could feel a vein threatening to burst on his head. _'Kami! This thing's annoying!'_ "Look fox, I've got no time for you," he said rubbing his temples in hopes to prevent any further pain to the head, "I need to get this house done as soon as possible."

"But you've already got one!" whined the blond, pointing to the tent, "See?"

The raven haired teen sighed in defeat, his headache wasn't going anywhere and it was obvious he wasn't going to get anymore work done for now. "I need a stronger house," he explained as slowly and calmly as he could in spite of the anger he felt for the fox, "it's going to be winter in a few weeks and that tent won't last long in snow storms. I'll be lucky if it lasts during a big rain storm at all."

"Hm…" Naruto mused as he went over to the tent and began to inspect it more thoroughly. "'K, I give ya that, pal. It does look kinda flimsy. But I still don't want ya here!"

"I'm not leaving," Itachi said, just as stubbornly. "I… can't go back."

The blond's ears perked up at the hint of sadness in the human's voice and his eyes softened at the taller one's saddened eyes. "Why not?" he asked curiously.

Itachi sat down on one of the stumps he'd created the day before. "To my family, I'm just another tool they can use to further their own greed and pride. We're not that rich, but we do very well for a family of tailors. My father is always telling me that I need to work harder and practice more so I could be worthy of the Uchiha name and not bring shame to the family business. But I don't want that. I'm not really sure what I want, but I don't want to live like that, always feeling like I'm under some microscope and having my father criticize me. I have a younger brother, Sasuke, he wants that, so let him take over."

"So ya ran away, huh?"

"I ran, yes. I was going to leave here, but where else would I go? My father has others out there looking for me, but if I stay here, they'll never find me. They didn't find me when I came here and I don't think anyone else ever will. I just want to live my life as I please with **no one** bothering me."

The fox boy looked at the human teen carefully. He now kind of understood the kid and felt guilty for dumping him in the river as he slept. All he wanted was to be who he was meant to be – whatever that may be and his family wasn't letting that happen. "Tell ya what," he said a few moments later, "I'll let ya stay and build that house of yours, but ya gotta promise me that when you're done building, you'll _**never**_ cut down another tree."

Itachi blinked in shock at the shorter blond's words. What brought on that sudden change of heart? "Are you sure?" he asked, "You want me to stay now?"

"Yeah," replied Naruto, "Everything's gotta have a chance ta grow, and you're not getting it back wherever ya came from. So do ya promise not to cut down any more trees?"

Itachi nodded, giving the adorable fox like boy a small smile. "Thank you," he said, "I promise I'll stop chopping trees once I've got enough wood to build a house for myself. You have my solemn word."

"I'll hold ya to that, buddy. So don't think I won't be keeping tabs on ya."

"Itachi." The blond looked at him in confusion. "My name is Itachi," he said holding out his hand.

Not sure what to do with the offered hand, the fox boy leant down and sniffed at it, much like the vulpine creature he resembled. Finding that he liked this Itachi's scent, he playfully gave the palm a tiny lick before darting back. "You smell and taste real good Ita-chan!" he said as he dashed back off into the trees and down the hill.

The raven haired teen stood there for several moments, his mind reeling from having his hand sniffed and licked. He shivered as he remembered that sinful tongue slid against the palm of his hand. What in the world was happening to him?

The days flew by and quickly became weeks. During that time, Itachi and Naruto became closer. The blond fox boy would drop by every few days at first to see if the taller human had finished his house or given up and moved on. There were a few times when he and as many of the animals as possible spent nights in the teen's tent to keep a closer eye on him. Then he came every other day until eventually, he stopped coming at all since he'd practically moved into the tent with Itachi in spite of the frequent pranks he and the other forest animals played on him. The blond's grounds for doing so was that he just couldn't trust the raven haired teen to keep his word, however Itachi saw through the fox boy's act. He saw the growing attraction Naruto was feeling for him and to tell the truth, he was feeling the same especially since the hyper hybrid absolutely **refused** to wear any clothing no matter how much Itachi tried to get him too.

As the taller human worked diligently on the house, the little kitsune made sure his new friend and charge didn't overwork himself to death and had enough to eat. He even went so far as to help with the building – he was adamant against helping chopping the trees or cutting the logs. The fact that Naruto even offered to help at all really surprised Itachi. Never in a million years would have expected that given their initial meeting, let alone a bunch of teddy bear like creatures Naruto had called Bar-ba-loots to help as well.

Within a month, a small modest one room log cabin had been built on the hilltop. Even though it was only one room, Itachi was content with that. He didn't need much, just a place to sleep and shatter from bad weather.

"So ya really gonna stay, aren't ya?"

The raven haired teen chuckled and ruffled his blond friend's soft mess the blond called fur. "I keep telling you little fox, you're stuck with me."

"Good," Naruto replied, yet again surprising the taller one for the umpteenth time since they met.

"I-I thought you wanted me gone. You said I was bad news," Itachi stammered nervously as the blond fox boy inched closer and closer, their noses almost touching.

"I still say, you're bad news 'Tachi," Naruto breathed, "But I don't want ya to go anymore. You need someone ta keep an eye on ya."

Before the raven haired teen could do or say anything, Naruto grabbed the back of Itachi's head and pulled it down, closing the final few centimeters between them and placed his lips firmly on the human's. Itachi stood there frozen to the forest floor, onyx eyes widening in utter astonishment, before closing as the initial shock morphed into something akin to a mixture of lust and love.

"N-Naru…" the taller teen murmured between pants.

He blond smiled as he placed a single finger on his kiss bruised lips. He wouldn't say a thing, choosing to lead his soon to be lover into the now completed cabin. 'Wanna celebrate?' those sparkling mischievous sapphires seemed to say as he turned face the taller brunet. Itachi smirked at the little kitsune's attempt at being seductive – he was just so adorable. It was Naruto's turn to be startled when he found himself suddenly pinned to the newly built bed. 'Gotcha' smoldering jet flashed back as Itachi continued to smirk hungrily at he currently trapped fox boy.

That led to the first of many nights of passion for the two. However, Itachi and Naruto's happiness wasn't to last long.

About a week after the completion of the cabin, Naruto abruptly shot straight up out of bed. He and Itachi had been cuddling and lounging after a rather boisterous morning. Sensing his smaller lover's distress, Itachi rose as well and wrapped his arms around Naruto, pulling the little kitsune to his bare chest.

"What's the matter, Naru?" he asked, laying a chaste kiss on one tan, whiskered cheek.

"Somethin's comin'," Naruto replied, his orange ears flattening against his skull.

"Are we in danger?" Itachi asked, frowning now that his lover was trembling. Whatever it was, it must be seriously bad to have the usually hyper and happy-go-lucky fox boy shaking like the trees he so loved in a wind storm.

There was a knock on the door. Both stood stock still. Itachi knew it was **no **bar-ba-loot; the little furballs **always** barged into the cabin through whatever windows were open. The raven haired teen had given up on teaching the critters to knock ages ago along with getting the blond to wear clothing.

After a few intense moments, the door slowly swung open to reveal a boy with black hair a slightly bluer shade than Itachi's that was spiked up at the back in such a way that it resembled a duck's rear end. The taller teen's eyes enlarged in alarm. _'It can't be!'_ he silently prayed.

"A-Aniki?" the boy called, coal colored eyes mirroring Itachi's shock as much paler cheeks hastily turned red upon spying the two still unclothed males. "I-I'll… um… yeah," the boy hurriedly said as he slammed the door shut, not bothering to wait for a reply.

Inwardly Itachi was panicking like crazy. _'Did father send Sasuke to look for me? Is he here as well?'_

"Naruto," he said as calmly as he could while grabbing anything he could to wear. "Stay inside, please," he begged. "There could be more people out there and I need to talk to my brother."

The smaller blond nodded and whimpered. The strange boy's scent was all wrong. There was not a trace of nature on him like Itachi. When he first met the raven haired teen, he didn't out right attack him like he should for killing that tree for he smelt of earth and foreign trees. To Naruto, that meant the stranger deserved a chance to explain himself. This newcomer, however, smelt of something foul that he could not name, metal and blood. Had he killed here in their forest or somewhere else? Regardless as to where blood had been spilt, the boy's scent had screamed of danger. Danger for the little kitsune, for the all too trusting bar-ba-loots, for the trees.

"'T-Tachi," he whined as his human lover opened the door.

"It'll be alright, Naru," Itachi replied, giving him his best reassuring smile. "Just stay out of sight."

The blond fox boy gave another pleading whimper, but nodded. He recognized that look in those ebony orbs he loved so much. There was no dissuading Itachi now.

"What are you doing here Sasuke?" the older brother asked, cautiously scanning the area for signs of his father's lackeys.

The younger Uchiha reeled on his brother and swiftly punched him in the face. "H-How could you do that?" the boy cried, "Y-You left me without a **single **word!"

Itachi rubbed his now bruised jaw. "I won't deny I deserved that otouto, but you wouldn't have understood if I told you. You would have gone running to mother or father."

Sasuke made to punch the taller teen again, but Itachi grabbed his wrist before it could do any further bodily harm. "**I** **wouldn't understand**?" the younger of the two fumed, "What was it that I wouldn't understand, aniki? That you hated being pressured every day by father? That you didn't want anything to do with the family business? How stupid do you think I am? I've seen how you acted around mother and father. I could see you were only pretending to be the 'good son' for their sake."

"Sasuke…" the older brother said, floored by Sasuke's outburst and unexpected insight. "I'm so sorry little brother. You're right, it was wrong of me to leave without telling you. I should have realized you'd be as smart as me. I should have told you even if there was the possibility of you…"

"I would **never** have ratted on you Itachi," interrupted the boy, his previous anger slowly leaving him.

"That still doesn't explain what you are doing here, otouto."

"I-I missed you, Itachi," Sasuke said, sheepishly looking away at the taller's scolding gaze. "Father… he's gotten worse. Ever since you left, he…" the boy couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence.

Itachi's eyes blazed dangerously. He could only imagine what **that **man must have put the poor boy through now that he was no longer there to protect him.

"I… had to get out of there," Sasuke concluded.

"But I thought you wanted to help me with running the family business when we got older," the taller raven said once Sasuke had composed himself.

"I could've cared less about that!" he spat bitterly, "It was **you** that I wanted, aniki! Out of all of us, you were the one who really spent any time with me. Mother was usually too busy working with father and when she did have time for me, she would always treat me like a baby. Father was well… you know. You **never** ignored me or treated me like a baby. You treated me like a real person, like I was important."

The older Uchiha felt an enormous stab of guilt emanating from his heart. Itachi rushed to his smaller sibling and drew him into the tightest hug he could manage. "You **are** important, Sasuke. You're the **only** little brother I'd ever need. I can never apologize enough for what I've done to you, Sasuke."

"Y-You can start m-making it up to me b-by letting g-go of me and l-letting me s-stay with you," Sasuke sputtered as he struggled to breathe. The taller brunet chuckled sheepishly, releasing his younger sibling. "Sorry Sasuke," he apologized.

"Absolutely not!" bellowed the blond fox boy, once the situation had been explained and he'd been properly introduced to the shorter brunet.

"Hn, and why can't I stay dobe?" said brunet huffed back.

"'Cause I said, you're bad for the forest, believe it! You got wax in those ears or something, teme?"

Sasuke growled at the insulting creature, "You said aniki was bad, but you let him stay!" he countered.

Naruto looked away, blushing profusely, "H-He's different," he mumbled.

"I bet," retorted the younger Uchiha slyly.

"That's enough you two," interjected Itachi, strategically placing himself between his lover and younger brother to prevent the fight that was sure about to happen. "Naruto, if you truly feel that strongly about Sasuke, then he and I can move on. Your trees will be safe."

"Let's go, aniki, before I catch his idiocy," Sasuke spoke, latching on to his brother's arm and attempted to pull him out of the cabin.

Naruto's eyes narrowed angrily at the younger of the two humans. He latched onto Itachi's other arm and began to pull him in the other direction. "It's **him** I don't want around. Don't leave meeeee 'Tachi!" he whined.

In spite of the little tug-of-war going on around him, Itachi couldn't help enjoy the amusement and attention the two smaller males were giving him. "It's either both of us or none of us, little fox," he said leaning more in Sasuke's direction.

"B-But…" sniffed the blond and pouting cutely. The fox boy sighed when Itachi got 'that look' again. "Fine, the teme can stay, but I won't like it, believe it! You'd better make sure he keeps that promise too!"

"Thank you, Naru," Itachi said detaching himself from his younger brother and pulling the little kitsune into a fierce hug. Behind their backs, Sasuke grinned smugly. Uchihas always got what they went after.

Another few weeks went by and Sasuke had soon gotten bored with the lazy life he, Itachi and the dobe were currently living. He needed something to do; something that would not only make his brother proud, but also make the man who sired him sorry for ever ignoring and abusing him to begin with.

While the two lovers were off 'having fun,' Sasuke decided to climb one of the trees, curious to see why they had tufts instead of leaves. He carefully ran a hand through the purplish pink tuft of the tree and marveled at the softness. It was as if he were running his fingers through finely spun silk, only softer. And the smell! It was heavenly! The perfect blend of sweet and spicy.

"That's it!" the boy said to himself, "I can make something out of this stuff and sell it, people will go nuts for it!"

Sasuke began to speedily grab bunch after bunch of the tree's tuft and once he thought he had enough, he climbed back down with his precious prize. Seeing that his brother and the dobe hadn't decided to have their 'fun' in the cabin, the younger Uchiha crept into their home and grabbed the pair of his mother's knitting needles he'd swiped when he left.

That was one thing he'd **never **tell his brother. It wasn't that he was ashamed for learning to knit by watching their mother, it was just the one thing his mother bothered to teach him and he didn't want to share that with anyone.

It was a few hours later when his project was done.

"What's that you've got there, otouto?" Itachi asked coming into the cabin, his hair still damp from bathing in the nearby river and an equally damp Naruto following him.

"I-It's nothing," the shorter human stammered, "Just something I made to sell."

"Oh? Is that so?"

"Is that from one of the trees?" Naruto asked disapprovingly, recognizing the color of the knitted monstrosity.

"I didn't cut it down, so chill out dobe," spat Sasuke.

"I still don't trust ya, teme. You'd better not let me catch ya with that axe!"

"Naru, otouto, please," implored Itachi, playing peacekeeper yet again for the umpteenth time that week.

"Tch. I'm getting us dinner," the blond spat and slamming the door.

"He's just worried we'll cut down all the trees, Sasuke. This was his home first after all."

"Whatever aniki. I'm taking a bath." With that, the younger Uchiha stormed out of the cabin, taking the purplish pink thing with him.

"I have a bad feeling about this," the raven haired teen muttered to himself.

At first, Sasuke's 'Thneed', as he called it, wouldn't sell no matter how many times he went to the nearest town. But after weeks of perseverance, the raven haired boy finally got his big break, the most popular girl in town – a pink haired harpy named Sakura – had taken a liking to the handsome stranger and bought his handmade, whatever it was.

Once all the other girls saw her carrying it around and learnt of the gorgeous hunk who made it, they all demanded he'd make them one each. Sasuke couldn't have been more ecstatic. He was **finally** getting the attention a son of the famous tailor Fugaku Uchiha deserved. _'Hn,' _he snorted _'that'll show that idiotic furball I'm better than him!'_

Within two months, more and more orders for Thneeds came in. Poor Sasuke couldn't keep up with the demand so he spent some of the day's earnings and used a payphone to call his family.

Fugaku wouldn't bother speaking to his 'ungrateful brat' of a son, but his mother gushed at his success once she'd stopped scolding him for running away. Once they finished catching up, she promised she would talk to his father and try to convince him to send a few workers to help with her 'baby's' new business.

True to her word, a group of 10 or so burly men and 10 women swarmed into the forest. The men, upon Sasuke's instruction, began chopping down the trees. In the boy's eyes, it would take too slow to just climb the trees and harvest the tufts.

Of course, Naruto was livid and began berating both of the Uchiha brothers for breaking their promise. Itachi tried and tried to apologize, but Sasuke would only make things worse for the lovers by saying that, technically, it was **Itachi **who made that promise so **he** was not to be bound to a promise he never made. That had been the final straw and the blond fox boy stormed from the cabin vowing never to lay eyes on either of them again, that they were now enemies.

Itachi's heart had broken that day and he stopped talking to his brother. He would have run off after his beloved kitsune and thrown every bit of Uchiha pride away by debasing himself before Naruto and beg him to forgive his foolish little brother, but Sasuke – knowing what his older brother had been planning – had a couple of the men and women stay with him at all times. He never had a moment to himself after that and eventually, Sasuke succeeded in forcing him to work along with the others to build a bigger home for him and the workers.

It would be a year before either Uchiha would hear from Naruto again. By then, a small town had popped up a few miles from the newly built hilltop mansion. Not too far from the river on the other side of the hill was a factory, belching schloppity schlopp into the pristine water and huffing and puffing thick smogulous smoke into the clear blue sky. Also close to half the trees had been chopped down thanks to Sasuke's inventing more and more machines to bigger the supply.

During the first few months of that year, Itachi had first tried to convince his brother to stop, but the younger Uchiha kept brushing him off. When that didn't work, he went behind his brother's back and started undermining the business by spreading false rumors. That backfired since the controversy only made Sasuke's creation even more popular.

"I'm hope you're happy, teme!" the blond fox boy shouted as he burst into the Uchiha's office.

Gone was the black shorts and blue shirt emblazoned with the Uchiha crest on the back that he used to wear. The younger Uchiha was now reclining in an enormous plush leather chair, dressed in a dark blue, almost black, and grey pinstriped suit – tailored by his mother – and blue and black striped tie.

"Oh I am, dobe," sneered Sasuke, pressing a certain hidden button on his desk, "I'm richer than my father ever thought he could be."

"Yeah, well guess what $$^0|#, I'm not and neither are the bar-ba-loots! Thanks to you there's not enough fruit for all of them anymore! Now they've got to go live somewhere else!"

"What a shame," scoffed the young CEO, "Who cares about your stupid stuffed animals anyway?"

"Then at least let me see 'Tachi!" pleaded Naruto as Sasuke gestured at the shark like man who'd just entered the room. His initial anger at the older Uchiha had cooled months ago and now he was missing his former love immensely.

The huge man grinned wickedly at the boy and latched on to the blond and began dragging him out. "Out of the question!" snarled the Uchiha CEO. "My brother has **no **time for playing with animals, especially **you**! He has a job to do!"

"You'll regret this!" Naruto bellowed as the shark man shoved the fox boy out the large picture window.

Meanwhile from the window of his attic prison, Itachi watched the seemingly endless line of bar-ba-loots solemnly march away from the rapidly decreasing forest as Sasuke's machines went about carelessly chopping trees. Tears streamed just as endlessly from the tall man's sunken eyes. He had been so fond of those loveable furballs and now he'd never see them again.

A year and a half later, Naruto had made another appearance, this time to complain that all the fish were forced to vacate the river and streams since the Uchiha's factories had completely polluted them to the point that only viscous muck flowed through them now. Itachi then turned to out right attacking the machines Sasuke had built to chop down the trees and process the trees' tufts with the help of a fellow worker whose name was Deidara. That did not go well either for it turned out that the blond was under duress to spy on the older Uchiha and report his movements to Sasuke. The blond would never forget the look on Itachi's face as he turned him over to his brother.

Now Itachi was never allowed to go anywhere without someone with him at all times. What was even worse, he was forced to help with chopping the trees he'd sworn never to harm no so long ago.

The younger Uchiha was now entirely consumed with greed that the fox boy's pleas and warnings fell on deaf ears.

Even Itachi's failed suicide attempt a few months back hadn't moved him. Yes Sasuke had been angry that his older brother would try to take his own life, but not of any familial concern or love. It had angered him that he had almost lost a valuable employee. The taller sibling however was treated more like a slave and a prisoner. His younger brother's callous treatment of him and the forest as well as making sure he never got a chance to see his former blond lover led the broken man to slash his wrists with a mirror shard.

It was another two years after that when the fox boy had paid his third and final 'visit.'

"I'm begging you, teme," the blond said, his forehead touching the thick carpeting as he crouched on all fours before the Uchiha CEO. "Stop this before it's too late. Every last animal's been forced to leave. You've got more than enough of that money stuff than you'd ever know what to do with. I'm all that's left!"

"As amusing as it is seeing you groveling like the animal you are," taunted Sasuke, "I'm starting to grow tired of your meddling. Get the hell off **my** land!" he demanded, giving the poor now emaciated kitsune a swift kick to the ribs.

"P-Please," he whimpered defeatedly as pain shot through his thin frame. "A-At least let Itachi go!" he tried once more, "You've got plenty of workers! Give me Itachi and I'll **never** bother you again, ever! Believe it!"

The raven haired monster paused in mid kick to consider the nearly broken blond. "You really mean that don't you, dobe?" he mused.

"Unlike **you**, I keep my promises, teme," he whispered.

Sasuke strode to his desk and pressed the button to the intercom system. "Sakura, have Itachi brought to my office," he ordered.

"Right away, Sasuke-sama," giggled the pink haired harridan.

A few minutes later, a haggard, sweaty Itachi Uchiha was ushered into the office by the same shark like man that had thrown Naruto out one of the factory windows five months prior.

"You wanted to see me, Sasuke-sama," Itachi spoke with a dead and wooden voice.

"Yes aniki," replied the younger Uchiha, smirking perversely. "There's someone who wouldn't stop pestering me until he saw you."

Listless and confused onyxes looked about the opulent office, stopping suddenly on a head of blond fuzz. "N-Naru…"

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," cried the fox boy, rushing over to his former lover. "Thank you, Sasuke!"

"Just a minute, idiot," Sasuke called just as Naruto was about to bowl the taller man over in his overjoyed excitement. The evil grin on the younger Uchiha's face grew even wider. "I didn't say anything about him going anywhere."

"But…" Naruto began in confusion.

"Be grateful I'm letting you see **my** brother at all you filthy disgusting animal," spat the greed consumed boy. "Did you really expect me to tear my family apart? Give up the only brother I..."

Before he could finish that sentence, an alarm began blaring throughout the factory.

"Sakura!" he ground out in sheer annoyance. How dare they interrupt his fun! "Turn that thing off and tell me what the hell's going on!"

A few seconds later, the noise was stopped. It was a full two minutes before Sakura's voice came over the intercom. "S-S-Sasuke-sama," she stuttered nervously.

"Out with it woman!" he snapped.

"T-There… there aren't any trees left. T-The last one was j-just c-chopped down fifteen minutes ago."

The Uchiha CEO stood stock still at his secretary's grave news. There were no more trees left? Someone had to have made a mistake, he kept thinking.

Naruto said nothing, only whimpered and clung firmly to Itachi, burying his head against the taller man's chest. The older Uchiha timidly held the blond close fearing the little kitsune would either disappear again or be forced away by his monstrous little brother.

"S-Sasuke…" Sakura called from the outer office once more. "The employees are quitting in droves. There's absolutely **nothing** we can do to stop them since we can't make any more thneeds. So, I'm going to go home now. Goodbye Sasuke."

The now obviously ruined CEO slumped into his gigantic, posh, leather chair – a sudden bout of exhaustion washing over him. The phone rang, but he refused to answer it; he knew who'd be calling him now that he'd hit a major crisis. He barely heard his father's sneering and gloating voice as he berated and insulted his youngest son over the voice mail.

"Go," he said to the despondent blond, "Just get the hell out of here and leave me be."

Naruto nodded and made to open the door. "Naru…" pleaded Itachi. The blond paused, refusing to look back.

"I… I can't stay 'Tachi," he forced himself to say despite the strong urge to throw himself at the taller human. His voice had sounded as broken as his once beloved's.

Itachi looked torn between dragging the blond back and running to join him. He glanced at his younger sibling. Poor Sasuke would need him now more than ever since their father had finally officially cut them both off.

"Get out," the broken boy said morosely.

"Sasuke…" began the older Uchiha.

"Get out!" Sasuke all but snarled, throwing the pair of gold knitting needles that had been proudly displayed on the desk at him. "Go ahead and take him since you want him so much you stupid furball and **never** come back!"

The fox boy spun around and stared at the boy. Upon seeing the defeated look in his eyes, Naruto gave him the barest of smiles, though his ocean blue eyes were full of unshed tears for what had become of not just the boy he had once thought of as a friend, but his home as well.

Itachi gave his beloved otouto one last hug and sad look of his own before grasping the fox boy's hand gently. The two reunited lovers said nothing as they walked out of the office.

"It took me a full five minutes to truly realize what it was I really lost that day," the old man in the shack continued, "I rushed from my now useless factory and up the hill in the hope that my brother and Naruto hadn't totally left me yet.

"I found them standing where you are now, boy. It looked as if they'd been waiting for something or someone, but I doubted at the time that it was me. My brother had an unreadable expression on his face as he gazed up at this very window just as you are now. Naruto had spotted me and turned to face me. I had expected him to either berate me or laugh at me now that I had been ruined. I will **never** forget that sad, silent, glare as long as I live.

"Neither of them would say a word, no matter how much I called, begged, and pleaded for their forgiveness. They turned from me and walked down the hill and out of this wasteland that used to be a vibrant forest. I never saw or heard from them again, nor do I ever expect to.

"The only trace of their existence is that ring of stones where a blond fox boy once stood."

Gaara glanced over to the ring of stones again, wondering if he should believe the tale of an obviously raving old man. He probably wouldn't have if it weren't for the grass within those stones. He'd touched it, felt its life with his own fingers. There was definitely something odd about that grass.

"So what does it mean by 'unless'?" the redhead queried, choosing to give the old man the benefit of a doubt.

"Isn't it obvious boy?" scolded the old man, "Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better… it's not."

"No it's not," agreed Gaara.

"I meant what I said earlier, kid. I like you, so I'm going to share my final secret with you. Wait right there!" There was the sound of the person inside rummaging through things rather desperately. The redhead winced a few times at a few loud bangs and crashes. A few minutes later, there came a chopping sound from above.

Gaara stared at the boarded window and gasped as the blade of an axe broke through the rotting wood. About five or six whacks later, the window was no longer blocked and he could see the man clearly now. He had pure white hair that was spiked up at the back. The redhead had to stifle a laugh for the way it was styled reminded him of a duck's bum. The old man's eyes were still a clear jet black in spite of the mass of wrinkles surrounding them.

"Here take this!" called Sasuke Uchiha as he chucked something at the boy.

Gaara ran, and to the old Uchiha's relief, managed to catch the tiny, delicate object before it hit the ground. "What's this?" the boy asked, gazing at the strange, oblong object.

"That, my boy, is what I've been keeping to myself all these years; my last and final, greedy, selfish act. I thought I'd keep the very last seed as a reminder of my sins against nature as well as a memento of my brother. But I think it's time to let go of the past and really start atoning for what I've done. Take care of it well, boy."

"The last seed?" Gaara said in awe, continuing to stare at the tiny thing he held in his hand. This tiny insignificant looking thing was the last tree seed in existence? He'd always thought tree seeds were huge since Granny Chiyo had always told him they were bigger than the tallest building in Konoha. "It's so small," he marveled.

Sasuke gave a chuckle. "Yes it's small now. But just think of what it can become."

"I… thank you," the redhead said touched that someone would entrust such a precious thing to him.

"Do the right thing, boy," the old Uchiha warned, "Don't make the same mistakes I did, but it's still up to you what you do with that."

Gaara gave the old man a respectful nod and started making his way back down the hill, his most precious cargo safely tucked away in his shirt pocket, close to his heart.

~Owari~

Epilogue

Gaara returned to the old man's home the very next day with a child's shovel and a bottle of his father's most expensive mineral water. Sasuke watched with approving eyes as the boy knelt down and began digging a small hole in the stone rimmed grass. After gingerly packing the soil back over the now planted seed, he poured a small amount of the water over it.

He had to get to school, so he had no choice to leave or else he'd catch bloody hell from his father if he missed yet another day.

"I knew I could trust you, kid," Sasuke said, smiling once the redhead was out of sight.

"'bout time ya did the right thing, teme!" came a voice he'd sworn he'd **never **hear again from behind him.

The old Uchiha gave a very, undignified squeak before whirling around to see…

There stood Naruto in all his accustomed naked glory. Beside the golden haired hybrid was his brother Itachi. Trembling onyxes enlarged at the older Uchiha's appearance. Itachi hadn't aged one single bit in all those years. He still looked like he did the last time he'd seen him before all this horrible thneed business.

"You did good, otouto," he said smiling.

"I-Itachi? Naruto? H-How?" he sputtered.

"Time to come home, little brother," the taller teen said, holding out his hand to him.

"Home?" parroted the shorter old man.

"Yea, teme, you've earned it. So hurry it up already!" Naruto added, impatiently.

"But… I…"

"No buts, otouto," his older brother said sternly.

Sasuke gave his prison of the last few decades one last look then made up his mind. He nodded to the two lovers and took Itachi's hand. He had finally been forgiven.

Had Gaara remained to watch the seed like he'd so wanted to, the redhead would have seen two rather handsome young men leave the crumbling house followed by a naked teen with orange fox ears and tails.

The blond fox boy gave the ring of stones a brilliant smile as he and the two Uchiha's walked past them. Moments later, a tiny tan and black striped sprout shot from where Gaara had planted the seed.

Did you really think I was going to end it like that, ppl? XD I had to add an epilogue even though Dr. Seuss didn't. I had enough of that depressing schlock of mine. Anyway, let me know what you think everyone and Happy Earth Day!


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